the payroll tax is one of the components of the fiscal cliff. as the article points out, most of the discussions back-and- forth have not involved extending that. what that means is that come the first paycheck in january, federal withholding for social security will increase in take- home pay will drop >. >> for what you have seen and heard of the negotiations, on what other items are you most concerned about regarding how going over the cliff is going to affect the average american? >> most of the discussion thus far has focused on the individual income tax provisions that for the most part have been in effect for the past 10 years or so. one aspect of the fiscal cliff is not actually about 2013 taxes, but is still left over business from 2012. most importantly, that is congress has not yet enacted its annual fixed to the alternative minimum tax for this year, yet. if no action is taken, a lot of people probably have not even heard of the alternative minimum tax, a tax that normally affects 4 million taxpayers would insnare more than 30 millio